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Murder Most Catholic
Manage episode 301825050 series 2969272
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Hans Schmidt holds a title that no other Catholic priest holds in the United States: the ONLY Catholic priest to ever be executed.
Schmidt illegally married, impregnated, and brutally murdered and dismembered his mistress, a one Anna Aumuller. For that crime, he was eventually executed via electrocution.
Schmidt was ordained in Germany in 1904. He spent the next four years serving in Germany, but disputes with his higher-ups led to a relocation. This was the start of a pattern of relocation for Schmidt.
In 1908, he was transferred to St. John’s Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. After a short time serving there, Schmidt was forced to relocate to St. Boniface Church in New York City. This is around the same time that Anna, a young Austrian housekeeper, began working at St. Boniface. On February 26, 1913, Schmidt married Aumuller in a secret ceremony that he performed himself. This is an important note: Catholic priests are banned from getting married and having sexual affairs.
Their story reached a gruesome end in 1913, when 31 year old Schmidt learned of Anna's pregnancy. Fearing this information would oust him completely from the Catholic church, he took severe action. On September 2, Schmidt slashed Aumuller’s throat with a 12-inch butchers knife in an uptown Manhattan apartment that he had rented for her.
He then sawed off her head with a hack saw and sawed her body in half. He stuffed her lower body in one of her pillowcases that had a monogrammed “A” on it. Then, he proceeded to dump the remains in the Hudson River, hoping it would sink to the bottom. Three days later, however, the remains were discovered by two kids in New Jersey.
The NYPD turned to the monogrammed pillowcase to locate the murderer. It was distinctive for the police to trace it to a specific company, and the company kept detailed business records. The records for the “A” pillowcase led to Anna's Manhattan apartment.
Lead detective Inspector Faurot and his partner went to St. Joseph’s to question Schmidt about the blood-stained apartment rented in his name. Within minutes, he confessed to the marriage and murder of Anna, claiming “I loved her. Sacrifices should be consummated in blood.” Schmidt ultimately met his end in the electric chair for his crimes.
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